


He Aims His Pistol at the Sky

by JuicyJams



Category: Bridgerton (TV)
Genre: 1x04 AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Assertive Daphne, Benedict and Colin being good brothers, Canon Rewrite, Daphne takes Shit from No Man, F/M, Healthy Communication, Like Really They Actually Talk, Overprotective Anthony, Simon tells his Vow Sooner, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Duel, Will Mondrich being a good friend, actual communication, no beta we die like men, yes the title is from hamilton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 05:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30067578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuicyJams/pseuds/JuicyJams
Summary: How I wish The Duel scene from Episode 4 would have gone.Like really, I wish this was canon.Click to watch our faves actually communicate and tell the truth.
Relationships: Daphne Bridgerton/Simon Basset
Comments: 40
Kudos: 125





	He Aims His Pistol at the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick little one-shot that has been playing in my head for a while that I wanted to share with you all. “Just Say” by Nineoneone and “Issues” by Julia Michaels were big inspirations for this story so give them a listen if you like. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy.

Daphne could feel the wind whipping past her face as she pushed her stallion to move faster. The dueling grounds were in her sight. She could see a small group of people standing around a small pair of trees but she focused on two figures that were standing apart from the rest of the group. They were back to back.

Daphne kicked her horse in the side again.

The two were walking away from each other in even paces.

She could feel her heart beating in her chest.

The two turned around. The man in the black coat aimed his pistol at the man in red. The man in red… aimed his pistol at the sky.

Daphne dug for every ounce of sound in her lungs as she rode in between the two trees that marked the spot.

“Stop!” She yelled just as a gun went off.

She didn’t know what scared her stallion more, her screams or the gun, but regardless, he went up on his back legs quicker than Daphne could anticipate. She felt herself leaning back and her sweaty hands losing the grip on the reins.

“Daphne!”

She yelped as she fell back onto the ground.

“Sister!”

Daphne could feel a pain radiating from her back and through her sides as she rolled onto her stomach. The ache was sharp for a moment and she couldn’t help but moan in agony.

“Stand aside!”

She felt hands grabbing at her shoulders, face, and side, which made her pick up her head.

“Oh good God!” Daphne gazed up and coughed as her eldest brother came into focus with a look of relief on his face.

“Are you hurt?” Daphne looked to her right and saw Simon with a similar look on his face… his red coat stained with dirt. “Tell me!”

Daphne huffed as she quickly stood up on her feet and pushed back her hood. “I am perfectly well,” She looked between the two older men. “No thanks to you idiots.”

Now that he knew she was okay, Anthony looked furious. “What the hell are you playing at?” He yelled at her.

“Says the man who just shot at me!” She argued.

“You just rode into the middle of a duel!” He reminded her.

She was not in the mood for his presence, she looked at Simon who was turned away from her gaze. “I require a moment with the Duke.”

But Anthony was not so keen to grant her request. “Daphne, I told you before that this is none of your business.”

“That is not for you to decide! Last I checked, this duel was being held in my honor, is it not?” She said as she turned to him. Anthony rolled his eyes as he turned to their brothers, seemingly trying to devise a way to send her home. But she would not be ignored so easily. “Do you truly respect me so little, brother?”

That made all the men on the field turn towards her. “How can you say that?”

She shrugged as she looked at him with nonchalant disdain written across her face, her head held high. “What else am I supposed to think?” She snapped at him with a false smile on her face. “You have done nothing but shown me great disrespect this entire season.” With every word she said, she walked closer to him. “You scare off every man in the town from courting me, you try to marry me off to Berbrooke without my consent, and now, you both march off to duel without hearing a word of what I have to say about the matter.” Now she was toe to toe with him. “You seem to forget that this is my life that you are tampering with, my life that you are so keen to control even though you do not have to live it… Are you truly so set in your arrogance that you do not realize that my life is not a trinket for you to play with?”

Daphne saw the hurt growing in her brother’s eyes but she had no time to give him false comfort. “If you have any respect for me… You will give me the time I require with the Duke.”

She watched his jaw clench as he stood up straight and for a second, she thought he was just going to grab her arm and drag her over to the nearest horse and send her home. But instead, he nodded over to the side. “Make it brief.”

Daphne looked over at Simon and made her way off the dueling grounds, momentarily glad to hear footsteps following her.

* * *

Simon followed the debutante to the side, desolate in his manner but also fearful in his heart because he did know not what to say that would prevent Daphne from going off at him as well. When they got far enough out of the way he was prepared to tell her that his mind was not changed when she whipped around to face him, tears welling in her eyes.

“Why?” She asked.

His eye twitched as he shifted on his feet. “Why?” He repeated.

Her lip was quivering and Simon wanted nothing more than to hold her. “I saw you as I rode in,” She stated. “You had your pistol aimed at the sky… y… you were going to die…”

Simon closed his eyes and bit his lip, he had been unaware of how much she had seen. “Daphne…”

She took one step closer to him. “How could you think that I would be okay with your death on my hands?”

He looked up at her sharply, shaking his head. “Daphne, this is not your fault…” He found great interest in his cuffs as he tried to avoid her eyes. “I knew that I should not have followed you into that garden, that I could lose control and continue to sully your honor.”

“What are you talking about?”

He looked off to the side. “I corrupted you enough with our conversation before and then I took advantage of you… I have compromised you enough…”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her shake her head. “Simon, you did not take advantage of me. If anything… I have compromised you.”

He slowly looked over at her. “Wh… What do you mean?”

She breathed out a laugh. “Why do you think I went into that garden?”

Simon turned to face her even more, confusion written across his face.

She took a deep breath before elaborating. “I wanted you to follow me… I hoped that you would follow me into that garden. I am the one who trapped you in this predicament.”

Simon shook his head as he tried to wrap it around her words. “Why did you… Why?”

He saw a tear stream down her face. “I cannot begin to explain how much your words hurt me the other day. When you said I was nothing more than a pretty convenience…” Simon bowed his head. He felt like an ass throughout that entire exchange. He knew that it might hurt her, but he never knew how much it did. But given how much it hurt him to push her away he should have had a notion of how it felt for her. “I was so angry at myself for falling for you and your charms… So I was determined to return the Prince’s affections, to move on but… I could not. Because I could not stop thinking of you.” He looked back up at her slightly as she started to bounce on her toes. “The Prince was going to propose last night, I know he was but… in that moment all I could think about was you. How I wanted it to be you. How I hated having to pretend that I do not care for you…” Simon took multiple deep breaths to stop himself from finding too much joy in her words. “And as I rode here, I kept thinking that you could die without knowing how I truly feel about you and… that you would die because of my actions.”

Simon felt shivers go down his spine as he took a step closer to the young woman. “Daphne…”

She sniffled as she roughly wiped her eye. “Regardless, you have to change your mind about this duel. Cressida Cowper witnessed us in the garden and she will surely talk.” Simon felt his heart drop. The Cowper girl was truly a snake with poisoned fangs, ready to strike at any moment. “If you do not marry me, I will be ruined. My family will be ruined… I know you do not love me but…”

“Daphne,” He interrupted her musings as he tried to think of how to convey his thoughts. “I… It is not that simple… if we were to wed… I cannot promise you a family.”

She looked confused by his words. “A family?”

He let out a sad smile. “It is your dream to be a mother, is it not? To have a household full of love and laughter, like the one you have known all your life? You deserve nothing less. You deserve everything your heart desires. But I do not desire the same.”

“Why?” She asked looking up at him with those beautiful blue eyes that were surrounded by red because of him.

He wanted to come up with some lie or half-truth to tell her… but if he could die here today, she deserved to know the truth of why. He owed her that much at least. “My father… was not a good man. He cared more about the Hastings line than about anything else. More than me. More than my mother. Our title was the only thing he cared about… and he was very vocal in making sure that I knew his contempt about the line continuing with me… He did not want me as a son because I was anything but perfect… and I have to agree with him.” He could see that she might have wanted to comfort him with some false truths but he continued. “So I vowed to him that I would not marry or sire an heir and that the line would die with me so that the only thing he took pride in, the only thing that he cared about, would die with me… and despite what we may feel, I cannot ask you to take on this burden. You deserve better than that,” He looked down at his hands. “Better than me.”

* * *

Daphne felt more tears welling in her eyes as she looked at this man she cared for so much. She wondered how a father could be so cruel to make his son so uncertain of his own life, of what he deserved to have in his life. “Simon… I can decide for myself who I want in my life… And so can you. Your father could not be more wrong. You do not need to be without fault to have someone care for you. Look at my brother, he is the most pig-headed and self-righteous man I know and yet, I still love him… most of the time.”

She saw a small smile twitch on his face but Simon did not let it stay there long. “Daphne… I appreciate your words… but I cannot let my father win.”

Daphne’s eyes wandered his figure again. “But you would resign yourself to live as he did?”

He looked up at her. “What?”

“You just said he had nothing except his title because he did not care about anything else. You would have yourself live forlorn and alone just as he did to spite him, a man who is no longer here. Simon, if you live no better than he did then he has already won.”

* * *

Simon thought over her words. Is that really what he wanted if he lived to see another day… to live like his father. To be just like him.

Daphne continued. “Simon, you deserve to live a joyous life… if anything to show him that his thoughtlessness had no effect on your happiness and… If we were to marry, you would not have to ask me to take on your troubles… because I would do so gladly… In a heartbeat, I would stand by you, no questions asked… Whether or not we would have children is not my major concern at this point… I just know that I cannot live knowing you are going to die… because I love you.” Simon looked into her eyes and he saw nothing but sincerity in them. She shrugged. “No matter how broken or damaged you may think you are… I will always love you.”

“Daphne…”

He could hear footsteps approach them from behind. “If we are to resume, we should do so quickly before someone should find us.”

* * *

Daphne could not help the whimper that brushed past her lips as she looked at her brother. “Anthony…”

“Sister, regardless of what you may think of me, it is not my own pride I seek to satisfy.” He said with a determined look on his face, glancing over at his schoolboy friend, who was still looking at her. “He has disrespected our family. His refusal to marry you after he compromised you…”

“What happened in the garden was not his fault…” She interrupted. “It was mine… I led him there.”

Daphne saw her other brothers come to stand closer behind Anthony, all of them looking shocked to various degrees. Anthony choked on his words for a moment. “I beg your… I… Daphne how could you jeopardize yourself like that, how could you…”

“Because I love him!” She declared. There was no use in hiding the truth anymore. “And he should not have to pay for my ignorance with his life.”

Now Anthony looked truly conflicted as he looked back and forth between the two. “Sister, I…”

* * *

“There is no need to resume.” Simon said as his eyes were still glued on Daphne, who looked back at him at his words.

“And why is that?” Anthony said behind him.

Simon walked closer to Daphne, who had more tears streaming down her face. He slowly reached up and brushed them away with his thumb. She sniffled as he cupped her cheek in his hand. “Because… I love your sister,” Daphne could not help but let another soft sob brush past her lips, making Simon cup her other cheek and wipe away more tears before he continued. “More than anything… and if she can forgive me for my stubborn pride, I would very much like for her to become my wife.” Because that would truly make him happy.

Daphne almost did not believe his words. She had come so close to losing him forever and now here he was, ready to be hers forever.

“Daphne…” Simon let one hand drop as Daphne looked over at her brother. He looked between the two again before his eyes landed on his sister. “I… I have no objections to his proposal… The choice is up to you.”

Daphne looked up at the man who had consumed her thoughts for the past few weeks. She knew what she wanted to say but she had to make sure of one thing.

“I will marry you,” She breathed out. “On one condition.”

“Anything.” Simon stated and he meant it. He would accept any terms that she would set as long as he could have her.

“You promise to never scare me like that again… I cannot bear the thought of losing you.”

Simon let out a small laugh. “I promise.” And that was a vow he intended to keep. “Well then, Daphne… will you marry me?”

Daphne nodded her head. “Yes.” Without another thought, Daphne pulled him down to her level and their lips met in a passionate kiss.

* * *

“Hold on…” Anthony said as he tried to run in-between the couple but Benedict and Colin quickly intercepted him.

“Let her be happy for a moment.” Benedict argued.

Colin nodded in agreement. “Yes, before we all have to run back to the house without Mother finding out what transpired here.” That made the men panic for a moment as they thought of what their mother might do to them if she heard of this.

As the Bridgerton brothers devised their reentry plan, Will Mondrich stood off to the side, smiling and shaking his head as he watched the Duke pull his soon-to-be bride closer to his body as they continued to kiss passionately.

“Alice is not going to believe this.” The boxer scoffed a laugh as he let relief wash over him. Not only did he not have to lose a good friend, but he was seeing his friend be genuinely happy for once. Truly a blessed day indeed. He walked over to the doctor to make sure that he kept his vow of silence on what took place this early morning as the couple continued to embrace the other, not ready to let go any time soon.

Somewhere in the distance, a ray of sunlight shined through the grey clouds as a new day broke. A day that promised a bright future ahead for the soon-to-be Duke and Duchess of Hastings.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me say right now, I am probably not going to add on to this AU, because I have no idea what I would do plot-wise. To me, a good plot is everything so you can leave ideas below, but do not get your hopes up.
> 
> Other than that, I really hope you enjoyed this one-shot. This was a good break from my main story and it gives me satisfaction to see this type of AU come to life. If you have any one-shot ideas let me know and I’ll be happy to try them out.
> 
> I hope you all are having a great day and if not, I hope this story put a smile on your face.


End file.
